PIEDMONT -- The Clearwater baseball team hasn't fallen behind much this season. Its average margin of victory through 10 wins was 9.2 runs, with big leads in the early innings eventually holding at the end being the norm.
But the Tigers needed to prove they could battle back from adversity against Greenville in the opening round of the Ozark Foothills Conference Tournament, three days after dropping a one-run decision to their Wayne County counterparts.
Backed by the bat and arm of relief pitcher Trey Rivas, third-seeded Clearwater scored seven unanswered runs in two innings to turn a one-run deficit into a 10-3 win over sixth-seeded Greenville on Monday night.
Rivas did not allow a hit and only walked three in 5 1/3 innings of relief. He struck out 11 on 89 pitches and gave up one run on a walk to pick up the win.
"That's big time," Clearwater coach Cole Sheets said. "Coming into it I thought we might have one of the deepest pitching staffs and I believe it now. We've got five boys that we can throw in and get quality innings and Trey as just a sophomore is one of them. What a job he did."
The sophomore also went 1 for 3 with a two-run triple in the Tigers' three-run sixth inning. He struck out the side three times and used a bevy of fastballs and curveballs after replacing starter Fynn Cooper with two outs in the second inning.
"Honestly, it just felt like another start for me," Rivas said. "This is my first year pitching on varsity and this is a pretty big step for me. It's not the plan we had going into the game but my team needed me and I knew I had to step up."
Clearwater (11-5) will face No. 2 East Carter in a semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Trailing 1-0 after one inning on Karson Fay's RBI single, Greenville (4-10) got to Cooper with one out in the second to take their only lead of the night.
Patrick Friley and Warren Willard drew back-to-back walks before Dillon Barks moved them over with a bunt single -- Greenville's only hit of the game -- to load the bases. Tye Huff and Alex Hicks followed with walks to plate a pair of runs for a 2-1 lead and end Cooper's night in the process.
Looking to do more damage, the Bears ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Rivas, who needed one pitch to end the inning and strand the bases loaded.
Clearwater answered a half-inning later as Rivas reached on a drop-third-strike. Pinch runner Parker Montgomery took over for Rivas, advancing to second on Christian DeGroff's sacrifice bunt and taking third on a passed ball. Gage Keller followed with a walk before Heath Ayers drove Montgomery in with an RBI single to tie the game.
Jesse Holmes walked one batter later to load the bases for Cooper, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Keller to tag up and score to push the Tigers ahead 3-2.
With the lead in hand, Rivas retired the next six in order with strikeouts before giving up a leadoff walk to Jack Becker in the fifth.
Becker stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a passed ball to tie the game for the final time.
Clearwater responded with a four-run fifth to take the lead for good.
The Tigers batted around in an inning started by Jackson Eaton's leadoff single. Tanner Wilkins added a one-out bunt single before Rivas was hit by a pitch to end Greenville starter Tye Huff's night on the mound.
The senior went 4 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and four walks, giving up six runs, four earned, on five hits.
DeGroff's bloop single off of reliever Hayden McDaniel put the Tigers ahead for good. Keller added an RBI single while Montgomery, running for Rivas, scored on a passed ball to push the advantage to 7-3.
"One through nine we can hit," Sheets said. "If we stay within ourselves and don't try to do too much, usually we're pretty good offensively."
Eaton led off the sixth with a walk, issued by Becker and Wilkins doubled with one out. Rivas drove them both in a batter later with his triple to the gap in left-center field before ending his nearly perfect night with one more scoreless inning.
"I think we were a little overconfident on Friday and in baseball anybody can be beat on any given day," Sheets said. "Today we stayed a little bit more focused and grinded it out."